As lockdown passes the halfway mark, what have I learnt from it?
A big thing, as I travel around my local bubble and observe signs of a regenerating environment, that I’ll be taking greater care of this living planet which has been so sadly taken for granted.
The other thing is, the aspects of life that make it meaningful. A big part seems to be our engagement with others, and also a sense of place, turangawaewae. Distance chatting has become de rigueur, the new phenomenon, with dog life, supermarket behaviour and the weather, good sources of conversation and exclamation. In other words, feeling like we’re a part of something bigger than ourselves, but where we have place, which is community.
Depot Artspace was built on this basis 25 years ago, and it remains the substance of its life and work. It’s a grassroots community, concerned about its artists and audiences and meeting their needs through keeping its ear to the ground. We believe, more strongly than ever that community is not just important, but is our new future. The qualities we increasingly find meaningful in our lives are the components of community.
We have documented this outlook in the many Depot Press publications, and modelled it in our work with creatives across all disciplines. That’s why we’ve created the Love My Community logo. It represents what is really important in this world and in times to come. Community is a microcosm; it’s the world writ small, and if we live with love in it then we’re making a big difference in the world.
We’re going to explore and develop this theme as we move through lockdown and beyond, because we’re committed to being part of a new world. In the meantime, here’s a link to Depot Press where you can see what we’ve been talking about https://www.depotpress.co.nz/
